1983 XJ650 Maxim bringing back to life

Speedo - “scream of death” is often a cable needing lube. But, it COULD be the speedo head. Nice thing is, that it is serviceable.
-Remove the cluster
-remove the back
-remove the two screws for the four center light cluster
-remove the screws holding the speedo unit to the front
-Remove the two screws at the back to remove the head
- Lube it with 3/1 oil or sewing machine oil
-reassemble.

petcock-
If you’re having troubles, try switching to PRI and see what happens when you’re on the free-flow side.
If the problems go away, that helps you narrow it down.
Sometimes the RES side can get clogged a bit though.

tight brakes
- check to see if the return hole in the bottom of the petcock reservoir is open
- check to make sure the caliper pivot bolt is not over tightened. The caliper needs to be able to adjust.
-pull the caliper off and see if the piston retracts easily with a c-clamp
-check to make sure your pads aren’t worn out (yes they naturally are angled.....that’s CORRECT for a 650 maxim.

 

One thing that had me scratching my head a bit was the tendency to act fuel starved on half a tank. Fine above that, but as soon as the level dropped to halfway, it would get persnickety.
Turned out the sieve sleeve over the intake pipes on the petcock was gummed up. On a full tank there was enough flow, but when it got lower the fuel permeating the sieve wasn't enough.
A replacement sleeve from a cheapy Chinese petcock was perfect fit.

 

thx for the help.

Is there a way to isolate between the cable and the speedo? I was also thinking that are the cables not inexpensive and should I just change it while I'm doing the calipers?
I do have to get to the 4 light cluster cause the high beam bulb is not turning on with the high beams.
I'll check the brakes, I think the pads are pretty far down anyway, but would like to be able to determine what is going on with what exists even though I'll be rebuilding it all.

 

Well, lube the cable and see if the scream goes away. If not, lube the head. See if it goes away. If not, get a new cable. See if it goes away, if not, get a new speedo. Process of elimination.

 

speedo cable piece of cake to remove. Heated up aluminum at wheel before loosening the bolt for the cable hold down. The nut at the top at the speedo was not tight at all and did not need more than light finger pressure to spin it off. hmmm.
I'm off for next two weeks only having to check office emails a couple times a day (good timing for mental breaks with the bike).
So cleaning the cable and wire, then will reinstall and ride it up in the court. I'm only on a learners permit right now but will just do some practice in the end of the court. Since friend said that humm started at the end of the ride, this may or may not be a valid test if it goes away. I should have time to look at lubing the head anyway.
3 in 1 oil on the tube and the wire?

 

a section of the cable had some heat shrink on it, but below that heat shrink there was some chafing.

 

I think engine oil is recommended for speedo cables. The chafing is from some kind of wear on the outside. It should not affect the cable inside but may let water/moisture in. May be a replacement is in the future anyway but maybe lubricating the cable might get rid of the hum in the meantime.

 

That could be a good clue..... that will let a lot of water into the cable and cause the twisted steel strands to rust up. From that point, they start to to break and fray, etc..... eventually The Who cable breaks.

 

So, cleaned and lubed the speedo cable. I had 3in1 so used that for now, its so easy to pull off, I can re lube it.
Started it up and it seemed like it was starving for fuel. Much like yesterday at the end of the ride. I left it on prime.
After I let it warm up, It was still starving and acting like it was running on 3 cylinders. Hooked up a tube and looked at the float levels. I was on somewhat level ground but sloping towards rear tire. Float on carb 4 was noticably lower than the others.
Was about to give up, then put in more gas into tank, started it up, and after a little while it sounded good. OK, so spent 15 mins doing figure slow speed figure 8's at the end of the court. No Speedo humm to be heard. Decided to head to top of street and it was bogging down.
Rode to the driveway. Carb 4 was low again.
So, Decided to do a test on carb 1 to test fuel flow on prime.
verified set petcock to PRIME
Viewed and took picture of float bowl 1 level.
Set petcock to RES (engine is off)
Drained float bowl 1.
Set petcock to PRIME
float bowl filled VERY SLOWLY and did not even get to its previous level. Even after minutes, it was still not more than

Something going on with that petcock or something about the way I'm doing the fuel lines?
Would air trapped in the line from the petcock to the carb do this?

Attached pics so you can see the relative difference in float level after draining and trying to refill.
IMages are out of order so:
IMG_4074 is before the fill test
IMG_4075 is after the fill test

 

I think I'm experiencing 80% of EVERYTHING I've read here on the forum so far.
So, pulled tank, put a line up to the petcock output and then let it run on both PRI, ON and RES. Had a line on the vac input and just lightly sucked on it to get it to flow.
IT was flowing pretty well, more than well enough.
The 7mm black hose for the fuel line I felt came off to easy after pulling the clamps off. I have a clear fuel line that you have to warm up the line to slip it on. I put that on.
Put the tank on and set to prime. I could easily see air trapped between petcock and carb input. Lifting the tank and shaking the line or tapping on the carbs did not let it flow.
So, I did something I read here before. I opened up the tank and then blew into it. All the air purged out and the fuel started to flow. Checked the bowl levels with the tube and sure enough. looked great.
Started it up, ran fine. Spent 10 mins doing figure 8's to the point I was able to cut the size down to half. Then ran up the street. Engine ran great, but once I got over 10mph, the speedo scream of death came back.
So, I'll be pulling the instrument cluster apart to do what hogfiddles says. Good part is that my carb rebuild was not the issue (I think?).

 

Take the cable out of the housing, dry it with a rag, lay it on newspaper and soak with heavier oil, motor oil. 3 in 1 oil would be too thin. Eliminate that possibility before tearing into speedo.

 

So, I started pulling the instrument cluster out before seeing your post Huntchuks, I needed to get to the High Beam bulb anyway.
First thing, the high beam bulb was fine. I even put 12V at the 2 pins of the 9 pin connector. Either it was making a bad connection or I have something else not turning that bulb on.
BTW, you have to pull the bulb out from the back, pulling on the rubber to get it out if anyone else needs to get to it.
So, one more step to get the speedo out of the housing, the odometer reset knob. Just turn it clockwise (righty-tighty) cause its reverse threaded.
Secured speedo so it would not flip over or otherwise damage the needle. Hooked up the speedo cable and locked in my drill and set drill to high speed. run it full speed and I was able to simulate about 40-45mph
Humm started at about 20mph. Pulled it, cleaned it some with a plastic pick and nylon brush then added the 3in1 oil. 45mph and no scream of death.
Will re-assemble tonight and try the bike in the morning. We will see if this holds.
I'll go ahead and motor oil the speedo cable too.

Thx all.

 

Pics for posterity. Let me know if the before and after photos of the pinion gear is satisfactory.

 

oiled speedo cable with Mobil motor oil I had and put it all back together. Tested all the lights and indicators before putting headlight back in. Tach did not work so had to unplug and push in again. I think a vinegar dip is in my future for those connectors in there. Looks like the high beam light might have worked the whole time, When I had it disassembled, I noticed the color filter on the high beams is less translucent, So viewing it in the daylight hid that it worked. Makes sense as it would be used at night.
Had bike out in the court working on my slow turns and stopping. Rode it up to 40mph and NO SCREAM OF DEATH. Time will tell but thanks all again.

Engine ran fine the whole time but speedo shows I only drove it a mile. Left it on RES this time. I'll leave it there for now.
With nasty cold weather coming, going to start the Caliper/MC rebuilds. I had drained most of the MC, picked at the 2 holes in the MC, then filled in some new Dot3 and then tested a vacuum bleeder buddy gave me that hooks up to compressed air. Did not help the brakes. looked underneath and the pin that runs across the 2 brakes was pretty corroded. Tapped the brake pads apart a bit and it freed up the wheel some but not as much as what is needed. All that should clear up with rebuild.

One more thing I did this morning. I half arse polished the Brake MC window just to see if the effort was worth it. Looks like it is. Progressive sand paper, then plastic polish. I did not really step the sand paper well, so when I have the MC off to rebuild, I'll polish it better.

 

You can also get a replacement MC window kit from Len

 

Pulled apart the caliper. Piston is pitted.
Can I sand this down and polish smooth or time for a new piston?

 

Your life depends on it......your choice. just sayin’——

dfox

 

duely notied. Just ordered one from Len.

 

Some people like to know how fast their bike can go.
I like to know how fast mine can STOP.

 

Caliper was nasty. I"ve done a lot of car brakes but nothing more than 10 years old at the time of the brakes/rotors.
I rebuilt the Master Cylinder. De rusted the pin for the brake pads.
Will mount the MC and new SS brake lines tomorrow. I"ll have to move to the rear brakes while waiting for the Caliper Piston.

So, before popping the piston out, I was curious how well this vacuum bleeder would work to pull an air bubble out. Before draining the brake fluid, I removed fluid from MC, then pumped some. Then added brake fluid. Brake was very weeak. THen ran the vacuum bleeder as I added more brake fluid, then tested the brakes when the fluid coming out of the bleeder was clear (indicating new fluid hit the exit. Worked great. I however will use the syringe method to add the fluid back in when ready.